Spoilers ahead…
It’s the film that fuelled a thousand acting dreams. For generations, Veerapandiya Kattabomman isn’t the story of a brave king brought down by the British. It’s essentially a single scene – the scene in which Kattabomman (Sivaji Ganesan, who’s beyond magnificent) gives Lord Jackson the chaste-Tamil equivalent of a giant, upraised middle finger. On the big screen, the speech is more resonant than you remember. The speakers aid the illusion that Sivaji’s voice is all around us, and the barely disguised contempt when he gets to “manjal araithu pani purindhaaya” is something to behold. But watching the film all over again, we see how much more there is to it, right from Sivaji’s first words, a prayer to Lord Murugan. There’s the way he spits out the name “Collector Lushington.” There’s the way – when informed that the British have cannons – he utters the word “beerangi,” apparently quaking with fear but actually mocking that very fear. To watch Veerapandiya Kattabomman is to marvel at the shades and nuances an actor can infuse into oratory.
And to realise – if one needed this realisation – how effective dialogues can be in cinema. Show, don’t tell, we’re often told – but when the dialogues are so moving, so effective, it doesn’t matter that the film, for the most part, looks like a photographed stage play. The camera whisks us to the first row, and perhaps even beyond, right by the actors. The scene where the battlefield-bound Kattabomman takes leave of his wife (S Varalakshmi) is stuffed with dialogue and yet as affecting as something we’d call “pure cinema” – though I did laugh once, when he described her thus: “thaen sotta Thamizh paesum thiruvilakku.” Imagine. There was actually a time a Tamil-film heroine was being hailed as a paragon of Tamil speech. And a time actors were chosen for their felicity with the language. Gemini Ganesan, Padmini, OAK Devar, VK Ramasamy as the smarmy Ettappan – there’s not one bad performance in the bunch.
The picture quality – the colours, mainly – is a bit inconsistent. But this may be due to problems with the negative, and it doesn’t affect the three-hour film at all – save for the war portions where we wait for the inevitable, it all just zips by. Veerapandiya Kattabomman, surprisingly, is more watchable than many of the social melodramas of the era. (The film was first released in 1959.) Perhaps it’s because the rhetoric fits right in with the historical (or folkloric, if you believe, as some do, that the film takes many liberties with facts) milieu. We flinch when we hear ordinary people attired in contemporary clothes speak this way, but with these characters no suspension of disbelief is required. That’s needed only when we hear the odd phrase that jars (did you know people said “Idhu en aalu,” back then?) or when we hear the British speaking pure Tamil. Offering Ettappan a drink, an East India Company employee doesn’t say, “To your health.” He says, “Umadhu udal nalathukkaaga.” Then again, we just have to remember that Egyptians spoke English in The Ten Commandments. (Speaking of which, the director BR Panthulu does a Cecil B DeMille by appearing from behind a curtain and introducing the film to us.)
The technical aspects aren’t as impressive today, but the music (by G Ramanathan) is still superb, spanning the range from folksy to light to classical. The highlight, to many, is surely Inbam pongum vennila (sung by P Sushila and a gentleman listed in the opening credits as “PB Srinivasa Rao”) – but there’s also Pogaadhe pogaadhe en kanavaa (reprised a few years later by Manorama, in Ratha Thilagam), and two exquisite numbers by S Varalakshmi (Singara kanne and Manam kanindharul). But it’s not so much these songs as how well they fit into the screenplay. What a solidly written film this is. It begins by introducing us to the protagonist… Then his citizens complain that they are being attacked by bandits – but this isn’t just an excuse for an action scene… These bandits have been employed by the British to terrorise the kingdom, and so we segue to them, as they recruit Ettappan… There’s nothing fancy – say, a narrative that moves back and forth in time – but this is a deceptive kind of simplicity. If it were really so easy, why would we have to endure the screenplays we do today?
KEY:
- “manjal araithu pani purindhaaya” = did you grind turmeric for our women?
- beerangi = cannon
- “thaen sotta Thamizh paesum thiruvilakku” = the woman speaks honeyed Tamil
- “Idhu en aalu” = this is my guy!
An edited version of this piece can be found here. Copyright ©2015 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Madhu
August 21, 2015
S. Varalakshmi – that wonderful, wonderful singer of ‘indha pachaikillikkoru’, ‘thanjai periya kovil’. What a voice!
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MANK
August 21, 2015
Brangan, well sivaji won the best actor at afro Asian film festival at Cairo. Which makes him the first Indian actor to win an international award.
But that aside, l always have trouble about wrapping my head around the notion of greatness of this sivaji performance. Of course I look at it as great fun rather than great acting. This amount of over the top hamminess. I mean the scene between kattabomman and Jackson, its camp heaven.
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brangan
August 21, 2015
MANK: I disagree. Something that’s not subtle isn’t automatically “hammy” or “camp”. There’s a tradition of acting that exists in a non-naturalistic realm and the evaluation criterion should be whether the performance fits not just the character but also the words, whose “musicality” might get lost in a different kind of performance. This is not to say Sivaji is never hammy. Just that I wouldn’t use that word in this case.
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Madhu
August 21, 2015
In the context that Kattabomman is put on the pedestal of a mythical hero – the goody good, most courageous man, the wonderful ruler and the EIC are the arch rivals who take traiturous means to attain their goals, isn’t the over-hamminess warranted? This isn’t a factually correct narrative and a rather hero-worship subject. In that sense, it is a wonderful performance: you would actually believe that this man was that mythical hero – his voice, the majestic way in which he carries himself and his ability to speak those dialogues as if he actually believed himself to be Kattabomman; all these qualities make this a great performance, IMO.
I do not like Sivaji Ganesan in a lot of movies, especially his later ones. You can’t even pay me to sit through Thirisoolam or Sivagamiyin Selvan. But, he was indeed a great actor in a lot of movies, including and especially this one.
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Ram Murali
August 21, 2015
“There’s a tradition of acting that exists in a non-naturalistic realm and the evaluation criterion should be whether the performance fits not just the character but also the words, whose “musicality” might get lost in a different kind of performance.”
–> Superb comment. I feel that way about quite a few of Sivaji’s performances. My favorite example is “Gowravam.” I do think it’s a little over the top given the current day acting grammar. But I don’t think it’s hammy at all. There are certain lines like “Thannilai Thaazhamaiyum, Annilai Thaazndhakaal, Uyir Vaazhamaiyum Maanam Enapadum” that get tremendous boost by the way he uttered those lines There are also several casual moments in “Gowravam” like how he’d say, “Kanna…konjam kaal-a pidichu vidu da.” So, I do think – like I said in my previous comment on the “Vasuvum..” post – that we need to give the likes of Sivaji a fair chance by at least watching his movies in their entirety before dismissing his acting style. Because if we don’t, we certainly risk losing or undermining that history and his legacy unfairly… after all, starting with Paraskathi in 1952, he dominated Thamizh Cinema for around 20-25 years before Kamal and Rajni came along…
Having said all that, I do think that Sivaji was equally brilliant, if not more, when he was more contained, like in “Devar Magan.” I don’t think his performance in “D M” can be termed “subtle” per se. But you are talking of a powerful patriarch with strong values. So, you need a certain amount of forcefulness which he brought out superbly. Case in point – the way he delivered the line, “Aana Vedhai…Naan Poattadhu…Idhelam ena perumaiyaa? Kadamai! Ovvoruthanodiye Kadamai!”
The same Sivaji was so touching when he playfully says, “Solraage ille…Cancel, cancel” and lovingly holds Kamal’s hand…
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Rekhs
August 21, 2015
@Mank I think it was a different era altogether! Like a previous birth for many
But Shri Sivaji Ganesan has inspired an army of actors, he is a film institute by himself 🙂
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Srinivas R
August 21, 2015
Even though I am far away from home and will not be able to catch this, feeling all nostalgic and warm reading this review. That one scene you talk about, is far more whistle worthy than the scores of hero worship movies that are made these days. Can someone re-release “Thiruvilayadal” already , would be fun to catch the nakeeran episode on big screen
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MANK
August 21, 2015
Brangan & others: I am in no way undermining the greatness of sivaji the actor. I thought he was awesome in lot of films whether the more typical ones like thiruvilayadal or pasamalar or the subtle ones like mudal maryadai. Also I think he was perhaps the greatest when it comes to performing song sequences. its mainly this performance because its considered so iconic. may be as Rekhs said, it was another time and a different way of performing a mythical character that I just can’t connect with.
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brangan
August 21, 2015
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brangan
August 21, 2015
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vijay
August 21, 2015
In Devar magan Kamal was reduced to a side-show until Intermission. A reason why this scene is so popular and will continue to be that way for maybe another 50 yrs
Just watch the way he is assertive at first and then breaks down eventually and then checks to see that Kamal has recovered after he slips.
The movie arguably had the greatest collection of talent ever assembled in the services of an Indian film – Sivaji, Kamal, IR, Bharathan, PC Sriram, Nasser, Revathi, Kaka and the several other wonderful character actors including a young Vadivelu and Gauthami too chipping in
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brangan
August 21, 2015
Madhu: This isn’t a factually correct narrative and a rather hero-worship subject.
Exactly. As a contrast, see Mughal-e-Azam — another film that’s driven by very ornate dialogue. But the pitch is very subdued. It’s more a romance — a mostly internal story, at least till Akbar and Salim start battling it out.
Here, it’s a very external story right from the beginning. Plus, the man’s deified (as opposed to Salim, who’s shown in a very “human” dimension). I don’t think the character would have worked had it been played any other way.
MANK: This isn’t about your liking Sivaji. I have no issues if you don’t 🙂 I too find him off in many roles, eg. Vietnam Veedu.
This is about your use of the words “hammy” and “camp” as pejoratives. That is a larger issue than saying “Sivaji doesn’t work for me.” Films are made at a certain pitch and with a certain flavour, and the performances have to be in sync with that.
“Hammy” suggests chewing the scenery either intentionally or unintentionally — here, I feel it’s neither. It’s a very “tuned” performance.
Srinivas R: Somehow I don’t get the love for Thiruvilayadal 🙂
But TR Mahalingam rocks 🙂
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Venkatesh
August 21, 2015
I know, when today’s generation get to see performances like this they’ll find it a little bit over-the-top. But, they should be aware that he is playing a warrior. I see this as “stylized acting”. Not many actors can do that!
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Srinivas R
August 22, 2015
My love for Thiruvilayadal is colored by nostalgia, I suppose. That was a movie I watched with a bunch of my cousins. I remember it being a Sunday movie in Doordarshan days and that was the first Sivaji movie I remember watching. I may or may not have watched a Sivaji movie before , but this is the one that truly registered.
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Madhu
August 22, 2015
BR: Thiruvillayaadal is something that I can and do enjoy, may be because it is not so much concentrated on Sivaji’s performance; there are the songs and there is Nagesh. But, Thirumaal Perumai makes me shudder! 😀
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praneshp
August 22, 2015
Nice review, of one of my favorite old movies.
Why did you do this one though? Are you going to be write about older movies now and then? That’ll be great!
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Anu Warrier
August 22, 2015
I have a fondness for Sivaji. My father, though born in Kerala, was brought up completely in Madras and we often joke that he is actually a Tamilian in Mallu skin. So I grew up seeing a lot of his older films on re-run. For a little child, he was magic. Then I grew up and saw him, with bloodshot eyes, screaming ‘Ennadai’ in some film that I’ve forgotten the name of; I giggled. Later still, I caught him in Oru Yathramozhi and Muthal Mariyathai and I liked him all over again. For some reason, I remember having been taken to watch Veera Pandiya Katta Bomman from school?
As for his hamming, yes, of course, there are certain film where he chews the scenery. But to say that all he did was ham is to negate the stream of acting which was more theatrical but still excellent. Just because Italian and French New Wave cinema made a certain type of acting all the rage, doesn’t mean that that is the only acting worth commending.
I think we have become conditioned to think ‘subtle’ ‘realistic’ acting is the only thing that we should appreciate. (Or we are philistines, the hoi polloi who appreciate masala films – oh, the judgement in that term – masala.) That that is acting. And anything else is OTT. That both ways (and many others) can (and should) co-exist, and can both be good acting seems to have been lost somewhere on the way to appreciation of new wave cinema as the ‘one true way’.
Who, then, would watch Shakespeare, today, full as it is of fire and brimstone, and oratory that delights the heart when declaimed well? Where would Greek theatre be? Or our very own legacy of natakams?
Now you’ve made me want to watch Veerapandya Katta Bomman again, Rangan, and that is very bad of you, because oh, where do I get the time?! 🙂
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Anu Warrier
August 22, 2015
Aargh, typos hazaar. Sorry!
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brangan
August 22, 2015
praneshp: Because it was re-released here.
Anu Warrier: Another things I find annoying is when people dismiss anything in a high pitch as “melodrama”. There’s a difference between melodrama as a genre and melodrama as a pitch — some films are one or the other; some are both.
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KayKay
August 22, 2015
B, you posting the YouTube clips is ironic, because YouTube kinda ruined my desire to watch the film in it’s entirety. I love those iconic scenes. I rewatch his Jackson Thurai takedown and also the climactic speech like this one countless times:
And I just marvel at Shivaji tossing out reams and reams of verbal fireworks with effortless ease. His enunciation and their clarity is remarkable. I’ll be curious to know how many takes scenes like the one above took? Or with his background in theatre, were they One-Take affairs?
But I fear, what if all the bits in between these scenes are snorefests? Kinda like Kung Fu films, where any scene that doesn’t feature flying feet and fists of fury are soporific to the core.
“Imagine. There was actually a time a Tamil-film heroine was being hailed as a paragon of Tamil speech”…
yeah imagine that. What were they thinking 🙂
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KayKay
August 22, 2015
“The movie arguably had the greatest collection of talent ever assembled in the services of an Indian film – Sivaji, Kamal, IR, Bharathan, PC Sriram, Nasser, Revathi, Kaka and the several other wonderful character actors including a young Vadivelu and Gauthami too chipping in”
vijay, second, third and fourth that brother! A movie that’s so compulsively rewatchable the fact that it’s not available on a remastered blu-ray is a tragedy of epic proportions
Anu Warrier: Oru Yathramozhi could have done so much more with the pairing of a Legend of Tamil Cinema against not just a superstar of Malayalam movies but arguably one of the best actors of his own generation. The Nadigar Thilagam/Lalettan combo should have been Malayalam cinema’s answer to Thevar Magan (which ironically was directed by an amazing Keralite director) but fell far far short.
Mudhal Mariyadhai on the other hand…. Gold. Solid Gold.
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Anu Warrier
August 22, 2015
KayKay, I agree that Oru Yatramozhi could have been better, but the acting, oh the acting! Both of them were very, very good.
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MANK
August 22, 2015
Hmm, I don’t know Brangan. I am not very convinced. I would like to argue with you further about this, but I don’t think I can express well as you can. I just don’t have that much technical knowledge about screen acting or films to put it across properly.
Its not just about non subtlety equaling hamminess or melodrama. I can understand a performance in synch with the mood of the film. I love al Pacino in scarface. That was perfect with the loud overblown nature of the film. Similarly I love George c Scott in Patton or Peter o’ tools in Lawrence of Arabia. They were also mythical characters and big operatic performances. But there were layers and shades in those performances which I don’t see in this sivaji performance. Here its a fusillade of dialogues and more dialogues. just don’t get to know anything deep about the character. I don’t know whether I have put across my point well. I suppose I just have to leave it there.
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MANK
August 22, 2015
Kay Kay, yathramozhi was a troubled project all through. First they started a different film and they shut it down.then they began this film and there were lot of financial problems. They could barely make it and get it released. Again the talent involved- prathap pothen directing from a priyadarshan story, not in the league of tevar makan.
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udhaysankar
August 22, 2015
Not just melodrama, I hate the way people easily dismiss Masala movies as something that doesn’t need the amount of respect that other movies deserve. A good masala movie is very hard to achieve. Is there any other genre in cinema that is uniquely indian as masala. Plus,there is no movie that can termed as the perfect Masala movie. A good masala movie cannot be made with planning. It just happens..
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Prajith
August 22, 2015
perfect masala movies – Sholay, amar akbhar Anthony, muqaddar ka sikander
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N
August 22, 2015
None of the Mallu actors are believable in their Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films unless they are playing Malayalis. Clear example is the Mallu version of Ambedkar from Mammootty, milieu is important.
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ThouShaltNot
August 22, 2015
Turning a historical figure into a mythical figure requires extraordinary talent and in the case of Kattabomman, that talent came in the guise of Sivaji Ganesan. What Sivaji brought to the character was unalloyed spunk, likely never seen on screen before. As a result of his performance, one is tempted to say that history was co-opted by a film personality. It’s hard to think of another role that is etched in Tamil people’s memory (across several decades) as Sivaji’s “Veerapandiya Kattabomman”. Maybe “Paasa Malar” (a mushy role at the other end of the emotional spectrum)?
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chenab35
August 23, 2015
Would rather watch good “Enga Mama”, an Above Average “Vazhkai”, an Above Average “Sorgam”, “Thillana Moganambal”, a good “Rajapart Rangadurai”, an Above Average “Puthiya Puravai” , a good ” Thanga Padakkam”, a superb “Vietnam Veedu”, or even a superb “Karnan” over this nonsense mediocre film. And FYI, in truth Kattaboman was a slave of British paying regular taxes to Jackson.
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chenab35
August 23, 2015
Would rather watch decent/good films like Sorgam, Vazhkai, Vietnam Veedu, Thangapadakkam, Ooty Varai Ooravu,Rajapart Rangadurai, Puthiya Paravai, Enga Mama, Karnan over this nonsense mediocre flick.
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chenab35
August 23, 2015
And the truth was Kattaboman being a slave to the British/East India Company paying regular taxes to Jackson Durai, never a patriot as shown in this rotten film. And the true warriors were of course the MARUDU brothers. But no Tamilian wanted to make a film on them.
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Ravi K
August 23, 2015
udhaysankar wrote: “Not just melodrama, I hate the way people easily dismiss Masala movies as something that doesn’t need the amount of respect that other movies deserve. A good masala movie is very hard to achieve.”
I agree, but it seems like the makers of most of these masala films turn off their brains when making them. If anything THEY are the ones who show some contempt for masala (and the audience) but not putting any thought into their films.
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Ravi K
August 23, 2015
Is this presentation of VK similar to the abomination done to Karnan, where they cropped it to widescreen and added sound effects and newly recorded music?
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brangan
August 23, 2015
Ravi K: Yes, I think it was the same thing. The newly added music sound tinny and off, but mercifully it wasn’t too much.
chenab35: They did make a movie about the Marudhu brothers. It was called Sivagangai Seemai and it had this famous song.
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KayKay
August 23, 2015
“None of the Mallu actors are believable in their Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films unless they are playing Malayalis”
N, are you referring specifically to Historical dramas or all genres? If the latter, boy, are you wrong, son!
Yes I agree, when talking specifically about their accents, then it is jarring (especially in the case of Mammooty) but an accent is merely one part of a whole performance.
Leaving that aside, Mammooty’s performances have been as impeccable in Tamil as they are in his Malayalam movies even in uneven efforts like Mounam Sammadham, Azhagan, Marumalarchi or Makkal Atchi. Lal has had fewer ventures into Tamil, but I can’t find a single flaw in his performances in Iruvar or Pop Carn. Prithviraj was excellent in Satham Podathey. Terrific character actors like Nedumudi Venu and the late Murali (the Malayalee actor, not the Tamil one) in their Tamil films (Indian, Anniyan, Dum Dum Dum) remained….terrific character actors.
And I haven’t even mentioned the ladies (you can debate the merits of Nayanthara all you like but with the right role, Asin hits it out of the park every time).
I lack sufficient exposure to their performances in Hindi (I only remember Lal being decent in Company) and almost never watch Telugu films so can’t comment.
So, where is this statement coming from? Care to elaborate? With examples?
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KayKay
August 23, 2015
MANK, thanks for the clarification on Yathramozhi. Didn’t know it was such a troubled production.
“You can’t even pay me to sit through Thirisoolam or Sivagamiyin Selvan”
Madhu, truth is I actually find Tirisoolam a pretty entertaining watch. It was a perfect example of how to do “Masala” right. And Sivaji’s delineation of the 3 roles (tortured father, serious brother, playful brother) was just right and it had a lovely MSV soundtrack. The problem was at that stage, he looked as though there was an off-camera caterer on standby to feed him mouths full of biriyani between takes 🙂 Heroines twirling around him looked like they were circumnavigating a giant Buddha 🙂
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ThouShaltNot
August 23, 2015
Sivagangai Seemai (about Marudhu brothers) was produced by Kannadasan, and the movie although released in the same year as Veerapandiya Kattabomman, flopped. Also, it is true that VK in comparison to Marudhu brothers is disproportionately glorified (blame that on Sivaji!). It is also widely held that that the movie VK takes liberty with the truth. But, that does not make Kattabomman a slave to the British. He was a valiant fighter who was put to death much like the Marudhu brothers. They were contemporaries, who, fighting for freedom, socked it to the British. However, the Marudhu brothers were considered the more valorous and skilled (and successful) in resisting the British. GOI has issued stamps honoring all three of them! That said, history can be murky.
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MANK
August 23, 2015
The problem was at that stage, he looked as though there was an off-camera caterer on standby to feed him mouths full of biriyani between takes
Yeah man that was ROFL. that is the problem with mohanlal also for some time now. His full belly enters the frame before he does. Its OK when he is playing a role like in drishyam, but its absolutely embarrassing in other roles. Not that an actor has to have rocks on his chest and packs on stomach and build a performance only based on that like Hrithik Roshan or salman khan, but one does expect actors to be in shape.
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gvsafamily
August 23, 2015
“but one does expect actors to be in shape”
It seems even today nobody tells these guys that a hideous wig and a beer-belly-concealing jacket poorly mask the fact that someone actually old enough to be the heroine’s grand/father is trying to pass off as her romantic partner. These accessories, in fact, do quite the opposite – bring out the absurdity even more glaringly!
Have to commend Madhavan who gamely took it on the chin when he was referred to as adrak in TWM-2
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N
August 23, 2015
”” Leaving that aside, Mammooty’s performances have been as impeccable in Tamil as they are in his Malayalam movies even in uneven efforts like Mounam Sammadham, Azhagan, Marumalarchi or Makkal Atchi. Lal has had fewer ventures into Tamil, but I can’t find a single flaw in his performances in Iruvar or Pop Carn. Prithviraj was excellent in Satham Podathey. Terrific character actors like Nedumudi Venu and the late Murali (the Malayalee actor, not the Tamil one) in their Tamil films (Indian, Anniyan, Dum Dum Dum) remained….terrific character actors.”‘
none of these films got successful bcoz of them. Some are outright failures. Tamils didn’t identify with it.
Mounam samandham hit for the music and suspense but he looked like mallu person n anyways not great acting..
Azhagan same. he was out of place and not believable. Songs were good.
papcarn was a flop because of lal not being accepted in that role by tamils.. he felt out of place.
Iruvar became massive flop because of lack of identification with lal acting. if it’s sathyaraj, rajini or kamal it would have been identified n bcum a hit definitely. Prakash raj got accepted critically in national awards but not lal because tamils in panel rejected it for lack of tamil authenticity
it always feels like a mallu put in tamil shoes who cannot behave with that milieu properly..
Sivaji Ganesan didnt do that mistake.. he played tamil in Oru yatra mozhi.. That’s why he is nadiar thilagam
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Madhu
August 23, 2015
KayKay: LOL! But, ‘sumatheeeeeeeeee’ makes me lose my appetite! 😀
Your comment made me realize that when it comes to Sivaji’s movies and performance, I am extremely influenced by my father. He loves pre 70s Sivaji and hates him post that (except in the good ones like mudal mariyadhai, devar magan). And, when it comes to badly remade movies like Sivagamiyin Selvan – where the original was loved by him – he gets scathing with his opinion. And, when I last saw these movies (good or bad, he will play these movies to me and run a commentary on why he did or didn’t like the said movie later), it was late 90s – I was in my early teens; impressionable age you see. So, I have the same opinions as him. I wonder how I would perceive them now.
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MANK
August 23, 2015
If malayalis are not accepted in Tamil cinema, then the biggest failure would have been MGR – who’s a malayali. And that was the primary reason why Mani chose a Malayalam actor like mohanlal to play the role in iruvar.
That aside, to say that iruvar flopped because of Lal is ridiculous at best. The film was a classy highly artistic film without any mass appealing elements.there was no way it would have become a mass blockbuster even with Rajni or kamal in lead role.
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Prasad
August 23, 2015
Ageing gracefully on screen. It is definitely an art which none of our Indian actors have mastered including the current set of heroes take Rajini, Kamal, Mohanlal and Mamotty in some way or other. I think Shivaji’s choices of movie should have been better in his later days. Anyday his black and white movies like Antha naal, Parasakthi , Utthama puthiran are better than his later movies in Eastman colour especially between 70-80’s The 2 notable movies in 80’s of course has been quoted all Muthal Mariyadhai and Devar Magan.
One of the very good song acting from Sivaji “Yaar antha Nilavu”
Another point about this acting. As he is Drama school of acting from initial days, some of the scenes in which he emotes didn’t have the subtlety and finesse. Of course this is not in all movie.
No disrespect, again he is an excellent actor, but anyway would settle with his black and white movies than his movies in colour. For example, mirunthanga charvarty seems a successful movie but we we see it now sometimes it becomes unintentional humour.
Another point , not sure why there are more no colloboration between Sivaji and great directors like Mahendran and KB in 80’s or even in late 70″s? Probably we would have got more better movies in later days.
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VenkateswaranGanesan (@_Drunkenmunk)
August 23, 2015
Original mass movie. Original punch dialogues. Flamboyance and panache. What an actor. This is unrelated to the film, but on the actor that is Sivaji.
J Mahendran on Sivaji and his hyperdramatization/overacting: http://www.tubechop.com/watch/6558538
I’d prefer to use hyperdramatization to hammy/overacting in films like these 😛 Sure there were atrocities in hamming like Mridanga Chakravarthy, Pattakathi Bairavan (which I endured only for Sivaji and IR), etc. But I’d differentiate that with hyperdramatization in films like Uyarndha Manidhan, Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Thiruvilayadal, Navarathiri, etc. which actually IMO carry quite a bit of nuance in performance.
A case for Thiruvilayadal for instance would be APN’s scene as Nakkeeran with Sivaji. At around 3:13 here, as APN says “annai umayavaL” you can see Sivaji doing a subtle double take (Shiva, posing as the poet, implying a “how dare you say you know things about MY wife which I myself refute!”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjZ9ZCOXxPo How he packs his flamboyant portrayals with moments like these IMO mark him out from the rest of the pack. As an aside, in 1956, there was a film called ‘Naan Petra Selvam’ which was written by APN. That film had a stage show (in the film) where Sivaji (single role in the film) played both Nakkeeran and Shiva on stage! A willing suspension of disbelief it asked of the audience who seem to have engaged so 😉 Sivaji there shows more effort in Nakkeeran (kinda evokes his Socrates from Raja Rani for me). 9 years on, both the writer (now also the director) and the actor had raised the stakes and it is evident.
Kamal on Sivaji’s hyperdramatization: https://t.co/LB8Aua3tlH
On choosing random roles, I agree. Sivaji, especially from the late 70s and 80s (save for flashes like Mudhal Mariyadhai) was miscast and hammed his way through even some of the okayish films for that era (like Vaazhkai for instance). But he himself had clarified on it. A third source on why he chose to do what he did: http://t.co/EECB9eVMvC But yeah, as buffs, we endure the poor films too. But IMO, that’s worth it with artistes like Sivaji. I love to search his lesser works and watch them. Because in addition to some of his most stupendous works (at least a 100 films), even his lesser works also carry ‘moments’ which sparkle amid the mediocrity around. That to me is a bonus to his stupendous works. After all, it is legitimately an oeuvre of 350+ films.
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VenkateswaranGanesan (@_Drunkenmunk)
August 23, 2015
Forgot to add this bit to the comment above. Adoor Gopalakrishnan on Veerapandiya Kattabomman and Sivaji http://www.mayyam.com/talk/showthread.php?10385-Nadigar-Thilagam-Sivaji-Ganesan-Part-11&p=1054066#post1054066 pretty interesting, I’d say 🙂
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N
August 23, 2015
MANK n co put chum chum for mallu actors in every post of barathwaj.. it gets boring now..we are not interested.. bye
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N
August 23, 2015
sivaji ganesan was just 28 when he did this film… released when he was 31.. beat that
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Shankar
August 24, 2015
One of the films that I watched when I was young and made me quite misty was Kappalotiya Thamizhan. I thought Sivaji was really good in that film as well as SV Subbiah as Bharathiyar.
Secondly, Oru Yathramozhi has a superb score by IR…
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kainattu
August 24, 2015
A terrific performance by Sivaji. My personal favorites are Thiruvilayadal and Thevar Magan. He was too good in both the films
I cannot explain but we could have seen a completely different nuance of his acting skills had he and Mani Ratnam collaborated in the director’s Post Nayagan and Pre Bombay phase. I am sure he would have elicited a performance from Sivaji just like he did with Kamal in Nayagan
One of the “hammest” actor ( in a diff sense of the word) is Nana Patekar. Almost all his acting are hammy when he “Underplays” the character. I feel he is an example that an actor can also ham in a “Subtle” or “Realistic” role
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KayKay
August 24, 2015
N, you seem to have a major bug up your ass about Mallu actors.
So much so you missed the point remarkably. Your citations of the box-office failures of Mammooty’s and Lal’s Tamil efforts are irrelevant to the discussion. At no point did I say they were box-office titans. Discussion was on their performances which I found to be good. You didn’t, and that’s fine with me. As Dalton from Road House would say, “Opinions vary”.
“Put chum chum for Mallu actors”???????? Your right to sit at the Grown-Ups Table has just been revoked 🙂
“sivaji ganesan was just 28 when he did this film… released when he was 31.. beat that”
Preaching to the choir, so(N)ny boy. Have nothing but admiration for the Nadigar Thilagam. There won’t be another like him
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Raja
August 24, 2015
it’s not Mollywood actors fault that they do not get identified easily, cut them some slack. Not many have crossed over successfully to different southern states and succeeded critically as well as commercially.
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newbie
August 24, 2015
@Madhu – “you would actually believe that this man was that mythical hero – his voice, the majestic way in which he carries himself and his ability to speak those dialogues as if he actually believed himself to be Kattabomman; all these qualities make this a great performance, IMO.”
Very true. I would like to think his early stint with theatre had infused within him an intense love for acting that translated into his morphing into whichever role he played (efforts that can be classified either as stupendous or a bit over-the-top but never lackadiasical). I guess you can take the man (this man particularly) out of the theatre but not the theatre out of the man. I came across this song recently on TV and need I say, I immensely enjoyed it. What a fun performance from Savithri and Sivaji…
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vijay
August 24, 2015
“If malayalis are not accepted in Tamil cinema, then the biggest failure would have been MGR – who’s a malayali. “
But MGR did not have the giveaway Mallu accent that Lal/Mammooty have. If nobody had told you would you have guessed that he was a Mallu? Its not that Mallus are’nt accepted or anything (the long list of heroines, the shorter list of directors/heroes who made it stands testimony to that). It’s just that with some of them, the thick accent and sometimes distinctly Mallu looks (like Navya Nair for example) gets in the way.
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vijay
August 24, 2015
And in Iruvar, while Lal’s acting chops and charisma were never in doubt, his accent did keep bothering me for a while. The original Mallu actor whom Lal was playing actually had much less of an accent than Lal did 🙂
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praneshp
August 26, 2015
@vijay: re heroines, why does Hansika Motwani’s distinctly non-Tamil look and accent not get in the way 😦
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KayKay
August 26, 2015
praneshp, those rules don’t apply to the ladies. Note that in Mr. N’s mini-tirade above, the likes of Hansika, Kajal A, Tamannah, Devayani, Simran, Sonia Agarwal, Nayanthara, Asin, not to mention the reigning Queens of the Tamil Box-Office for much of the ’80s and Trivandrum born Ambika and Radha weren’t cited as examples of actors “not fitting into a Tamil milieu”, having wonky accents and “lack of identification”
If this conversation was about “fitting into a Hindi milieu”, it would be Kamal, Rajini, Chiranjivee or Mammooty again who’d be trotted out as examples of failure . Sridevi, Jayaprada, Meenakshi Seshadri or even Katrina Kaif wouldn’t enter the conversation. If I’m not mistaken, the actress who played a traditional Sardarni in Love Aaj Kal was Brazilian! She seemed to “fit the milieu” just fine hahaha!
It’s obvious why. The ladies are accepted and are even phenomenally successful in many cases. The men are shunted back to their home state eventually (good old Maddy being the exception, successfully navigating between Kolly and Bolly with ease). Also, I made a point above that for some people, the lack of a convincing accent is a major deal breaker, they just can’t get past that. Dubbing eliminates this problem for most of the ladies.
In short, being easy on the eye negates a lot of parochialism 🙂
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venky
August 26, 2015
I agree with N to extent that milieu and localization matters when it comes to 4 states in the south. There’s always a foreign element in performance (not just accent). Comparing them to actresses and Bollywood is different ball game. Bollywood career needs focus and proper shift for male lead actors, unlike female counterparts whose callsheet and involvement is less and aided by outsourcing the dubbing work. Madhavan is a good example relatively but his tamil career as a lead has waned and his Hindi films are not exactly lead material. To do a Maddy wouls be underachieving for likes of Surya, Vikram and Dhanush. Talking about Sridevi, let’s not forget she and Kamal were accepted in Bollywood. She stayed but Kamal didn’t continue there due to bad scripts and mafia money. Tamil cinema with Bharathiraja, Balachander, Mani Ratnam and even Telugu cinema with K Viswanathan and Singeetham like Swathy Muthyam, Sahara Sangamam, Indrudu Chandrudu, Pushpak were better options commercially as well as an actor for him. Both Kamal and Chiru had their dubbed films running successful and accepted by Pan India audience. Hindi cinema would have more than welcomed both if they had opted to shift. But they didn’t shift out of their home ground.
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gvsafamily
August 26, 2015
KayKay – fully concur! In fact ‘different’ is a help not hindrance in case of the ladies!
I remember someone (in this blog or not, I cannot recollect) purporting a theory that when a regional hero woos a lady who is not from the region (e.g. a Kamal romancing Radha) it is a laudable “conquest” over another region. Regional hearts are satiated/filled with pride. But when a man from another region comes and tries to do the same to your women (e.g. Kamal romancing Dimple Kapadia in Hindi movies) it is seen as an affront to your pride and regionalism.
Ways of working of the good old patriarchal mindset, I suppose?
🙂
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Neena
August 26, 2015
Interesting discussions! – on Sivaji’s dramatic acting and on actors’ linguistic background.
@praneshp, KayKay & gvsafamily: I think many of us are bothered by some of the female actors utterly not fitting the mileu or even pretending to know the language. Having said that, many such actors have managed to learn, blend in and become more natural in their surroundings given the right director and role. Eg: Kushboo (perhaps because of the sheer amount of time she spent in Tamil cinema) and Simran (she didn’t look out of place at all as the daughter of a Rameswaram Tahsildar, romancing a fiery Tamil writer in Kannathil Muthamittal. Madhavan had his trademark accent very uncharacteristic of his role in that film, though, despite being of Tamil origin).
Many female leads are chosen primarily for their looks and fair skin and given such generic, unworthy roles that it doesn’t seem to matter. But, it does, it so does. Or at least, we wish it did! And by ‘it’ I mean their ability to fit the role and mileu, not their actual lingustic or regional background.
As for male leads, I guess Mammooty does look out of place in most roles! Dunno why. I’ve only seen him in Tamil films – Kandukondain Kandukondain (bad movie, anyone wud have been odd in that role, I guess), Thalapathy (many would argue he looked awesome in that), Azhagan (typical KB, Mammooty didn’t matter as much as Madhubala or Geetha). Those examples seem to suggest that his Mallu-ness didn’t have as much to do with his out-of-place-ness as his generally being miscast. If Dulquer Salman in anything to go by…(fades off with a dreamy look 😛 )
I didn’t find Lal odd at all in Iruvar. MGR may not have had a thick Mallu accent, but he had a pretty weird way of speaking Tamil, and his post-shot in the neck films, in fact, seemed to cover that up. Lal’s performance was otherwise so good that his accent didn’t bother me at all. Btw, neither Prakash Raj nor Aiswarya Rai nor Gautami are strictly Tamil!
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Iswarya
August 27, 2015
newbie: Thanks for that link! That’s a song somebody has been heavily recommending me to watch for quite sometime now, but I’d never taken the trouble to search on YouTube! Wonderful video – such innocent fun, such graceful movements (esp. Savitri’s) and revelling so much in the sheer beauty of the language!
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MANK
August 27, 2015
Also, I made a point above that for some people, the lack of a convincing accent is a major deal breaker, they just can’t get past that.
Kay Kay, yeah thats true. But Then there is the case of Rajnikanth. He too speaks bad Tamil. The Kannada accent is very evident. How did he get past that. Perhaps the fact that he started out as a villain and then worked his way up as a second hero and then the lead hero must have helped his cause. he assimilated himself with the audience Bit by bit. it would have been interesting to see what would have happened If he had tried to play the hero from the beginning. also ‘Easy on the eye factor’ that you pointed out about the heroines must have worked for Rajni too. Inspite of his Marathi roots, he does resemble the average working class tamilian – who became his biggest audience. So today nobody questions him when he plays the hero of the Tamil people on screen. May be off screen, when every time the cauvery water dispute breaks out.
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Ranji Vaidyanathan
August 27, 2015
Sivaji’s hamming is far better than the stupid inanities that we see in current movies of Dhanush, Surya and Vijay, (same with Salman, Ajay Devgn as well as Lal and Mammotty) where they just fold their fingers and hit the villain/villains who go fall a mile away! Why don’t those of you who criticize Sivaji say anything about that? I had heard or read somewhere where Sivaji said that his acting style was entirely the result of his drama background. No one other than Kamal can come even close to the diction and clarity of Sivaji. I believe YG Mahendran said in some function that the VK movie turned out the way because Sivaji wanted those who watched the movie to take away the message that we can love our country and be noble in our actions. Even if the movie took a few liberties with its historical facts, at least it did not justify killing and stealing or robbery like the recent Loham from Mohanlal. At least Sivaji was showing us that there was honor in fighting a good battle against unjust rulers. Where the common man had no other option for entertainment other than movies, Sivaji chose to portray a noble message that we could learn from – what is wrong with that? With every second movie that is coming out in every language justifying breaking the law, what does it teach our younger generation? That it is OK to do it as long as you can survive? At least Sivaji did not do that – and where he broke the law blatantly, he did pay the price (Puthiya Paravai, Andha Naal etc). He did not walk away scot free like Special 26, Loham, Pudhu Pettai or Padikkathavan.
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Raja
August 27, 2015
MGR, Rajini and Ajith are different kinds of stars who had unique accent that got absorped by Tamil people and eventually accepted. All their earlier movies were jarring. Still they have huge criticism by Tamils if I am not wrong.
If we take case of Mohanlal or Mammootty, not just the accent, they are unconvincing in parts where they have to make people buy them in Tamil milieu. This is where the problem resides.
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Rahini David
August 27, 2015
gvsafamily: I believe that the conquest vs. affront to pride theory makes a lot of sense if you really start thinking about it. It is not just Mallu men and North-Indian men who have difficulty in being accepted, even the Upper Caste look and the Upper Class look are rejected. They seem to exist to be put into place by the more common-place hero. Our heroes want to suddenly talk in Fluent English which is the number one way to put people in their place and everyone will know who is the boss.
We are discussing how MGR and Rajinikanth found their way into the minds of people. Strangely enough, MGR did it by famously targetting the thaikulam and Rajini by famously targetting the thanthaikulam. I guess both had one thing in common. They targeted poor people.
Question to All: Which is the earliest instance in Tamil Cinema in which a hero breaks into fluent English to make his presence felt? As opposed to Veerapandiya Kattabomman-style Sentamil, of course.
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brangan
August 27, 2015
Rahini: What do you mean by “make his presence felt”?
If you’re talking about showing off — “look, I know English and I’m better than you lowly Tamil speakers” — then MR Radha is a candidate. I can think of Bagappirivinai, where he’s Singapore-returned. Or Rathakanneer, where his entire arc is microcosmically suggested through language — he speaks English when all is good, but “becomes one of the commoners” and speaks Tamil after falling ill. That is, he’s become one of the very people he looked down on.
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Rahini David
August 27, 2015
BR: I specifically mean the type where we are supposed to cheer for the hero. A few examples that come to mind are Rajini in Mannan or Prabhu in Raja Kaiya Vecha where the heroine puts down the fact that the hero is a mere mechanic or thief, but he proves her wrong with immpeccable English.
I don’t think MRRadha qualifies. Many of us are now fans but he was not Hero material.
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gvsafamily
August 27, 2015
Rahini –
Also the opposition to ‘Love Jihad’, Sania Mirza’s wedding etc. is based on the same concept – rejecting the notion of ‘their’ men wooing ‘our’ women.
Apparently it is ok if ‘our’ men woo ‘their’ women, off the screen too 😀
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Madhu
August 27, 2015
Rahini: Wiki research leads only to Raja Kaiya vecha (1990) and Mannan (1992) next. I looked for a TR movie – Oru Vasantha Geetham where he has his usual ‘TR style’ dialog in English, but that movie has released in 1994. So, looks like RKV is the first. Should we congratulate Prabhu? Actually, other than these two movies, are there any other movies which have this ‘mass scene’ moment?
All the older Tamil movies’ English dialogues, by hero or one of the protoganist weren’t exactly a ‘mass’ moment that you are asking for. Sridhar had that scene in Ooty Varai Uravu, where Muthuraman and Sivaji Ganesan would speak in English to evade their respective fathers. KB mixed quite a lot of English in his movies. One of the famous sample is in Bama Vijayam:
Nagesh: Instalment nu onnu irukku, theriyumapaa ungallukku
Balaiyya: Insolvency nu onnu irukku, adhu theiryumadaa unakku.
Not many writers attempted jokes in English (which don’t get a Tamil translation) like KB, I guess.
gvsafamily: All these notion of “our” men conquering “their” women is considered ok because of the unshakeable belief that the woman in question would be molded to “our” custom/beliefs/religion/caste/region. But, when the woman is “taken away”, she would be molded there, which is a no-no. She can only be molded slightly differently by her in-laws of the same custom/beliefs/religion/caste/region.
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ThouShaltNot
August 29, 2015
I think MGR reeled off some English lines in “Ulagam Suttrum Valiban”. Sivaji, whose Tamil diction and oratorical prowess are peerless, is no slouch when it comes to mouthing English dialogues (Puthiya Paravai, for one) But, what is more fascinating to me is Sivaji’s make-believe English… Whether enacting the Othello scene in “Ratha Thilagam” (BR had a write up about it) or crooning for the club song in “Thava Pudhalvan”, his lip-sync is near flawless. He could give the “Tamil konjam konjam theriyum” crowd, lip-sync lessons in a foreign language in his sleep. In other ways too, he proves he is the consummate actor in these scenes.
Below is the clip of the Thava Pudhalvan song “naan oru kaadhal sanyasi…”. Watch Sivaji’s nonchalant get-out-of-here! dismissive hand-wave (and reaction) as he mouths “… Sleeveless Blouses, what next, blouseless sleeves?!” Smarting under the humiliation, the Punnagai Arasi is missing her trademark smile here and leaves in a huff 🙂
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brangan
August 29, 2015
ThouShaltNot: Pah. Trademark MSV tune. The trumpet opening. The turn in the tune when we get to “With you my darling, all is fine.” Heaven.
Speaking of English songs in Tamil films, here’s one that never fails to make me smile 🙂
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brangan
August 29, 2015
And speaking of Sivaji and English songs… What a lovely tune (MSV again), even as the words make us smile 🙂
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cl
August 29, 2015
I’m reminded of the English lines in the song “Ilankiliyae innum vilangaliyae” (Shankarlal).
Is that really “I am so hottie” ? 😀
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brangan
August 29, 2015
It’s haughty, no?
Not that that makes much sense anyway 🙂
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cl
August 29, 2015
No, not “haughty”. Watched the video…Kamal is “so hottie” ! 🙂
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KayKay
August 30, 2015
Lotsa good comments!
venky: You’ve made some good points, although I can’t agree with some of them. Actor or Actress, one requires sustained focus to even have a shot of making it in the industry. And one of those key requirements is location. Even Sri Devi, Jaya Pradha and most recently Asin stopped making Southern Films as they based themselves in the North to make a dent in the Bollywood Market.
I agree to a certain extent that Kamal, Rajini or Chiranjeevi didn’t sustain their Bollywood careers by opting to go back to their states where they were already established, but it’s my considered opinion that even if they had stayed on, success would have been hard or sporadic at best owing to the same parochialism I was talking about. Rajini still needed Amitabh for his debut Andhaa Kanoon and despite successes like Gungvaa, could only score supporting roles in Amitabh hits like Hum or cameos in Amitabh flops like Geraftaar. Wouldn’t have been any different for Kamal. These actors are far too entrenched in viewers minds as “Southern Film Stars”. As I said, that’s a phenomenon that primarily afflicts Male Stars
MANK & Raja: In the case of MGR, Rajini or Ajith, we’re dealing with stars who became so famous and even iconic as in the case of the 1st two in that list, any jarring accents could be overlooked. It’s the Schwarzenegger phenomenon. After more than 40 years in the industry, he still sounds like a Viennese pastry chef, but we’ve learnt to overlook it. A more recent example is Jason Statham who doesn’t even bother with an English Accent even when he’s playing Americans.
AND….let’s not forget the key fact that MGR, Rajini and AJith are primarily TAMIL movie stars i.e the bulk of their oeuvre is in Kollywood. They were established there first and don;t have a significant output in other languages. Mammooty and Lal were already established in the Malayalam Film industry before even venturing outside and so the identification of them as “outsiders” is more pronounced. Yeah, and the dodgy accents definitely don’t help 🙂
gvsafamily: Agree. That’s just parochialism taken to it’s ugly extreme. This need to “assert the superiority of men of that region” by having them be objects of desire of fair-skinned Punjabi Imports and subsequently lording it over them (insert scenario where applicable: Dressing Down the Western Slut for sexy Clothing, Telling the Horny Lass to bugger off, Slapping the Haughty Bitch etc). It’s interesting to ponder if Raanjhnaa would have been a hit if Dhanush actually ended up with Sonam in the end, or if TWM 1 &2 would have been as popular if Madhavan instead of Jimmy Shergill was the real “Man” who absolutely wouldn’t take any shit from the supremely flighty Kangana.
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newbie
August 30, 2015
@Iswarya – You are welcome 🙂
On the topic of English in Tamil movies, I was searching for an old Banumathi movie video in youtube but ended up finding this instead! Admire her wonderful guts and talent to have used a very popular English song of that era as a surprisingly conservative-sounding lullaby-ish song…
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brangan
August 30, 2015
newbie: Wow. thanks for that. Do you know the name of the film, and did it have a Tamil version (as many Telugu films of the time did)?
The other Bhanumathi song in English is “Meet my son” — in Pathu maadha bandham.
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Iswarya
August 31, 2015
newbie: Thanks again. And as BR says, wow! But I knew of the existence of the same song in Tamil translation from a serious G. Ramanathan fanatic at home! Again, was too lazy to look up. But, you gave me a good reason to find the Tamil version on YouTube, and for those who haven’t heard (of) it before, here’s the link:
(BR, not yet learnt to link videos. Could I ask for your help once more?)
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cl
August 31, 2015
“Do you know the name of the film, and did it have a Tamil version”
Telugu – Thodu needa
Tamil – Karpagam (Lovely songs)
Hindi – Rishte Naate
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cornerd (@cornerd)
August 31, 2015
Obligatory addition to the English songs in Tamil movies
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brangan
August 31, 2015
cl: Thanks. So it’s the Karpagam remake… or maybe this came earlier?
So is this song the situation-equivalent of Athai madi methaiyadi?
Who’s the music director?
Also, do you know what the equivalent of the following song is? It’s my favourite song from the film. Thanks.
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KayKay
August 31, 2015
In all this talk of English Songs in Tamil movies, this Gem should not be overlooked (although I believe this is a Kannada film with their very own MGR, Dr. Raj Kumar I presume)
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newbie
August 31, 2015
@BR, @Iswarya – You are welcome (again) :).
“Who’s the music director?”
I was aware that this was a copy of a popular English song from that period (50s) but just found out its popular enough to warrant a dedicated wiki page.
Excerpts from wiki here – “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)”, first published in 1956, is a popular song written by the Jay Livingston and Ray Evans songwriting team. The song was introduced in the Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), starring Doris Day and James Stewart in the lead roles.The song received the 1956 Academy Award for Best Original Song with the alternative title “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)”.
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ThouShaltNot
August 31, 2015
BR: Regarding “On a hottu summer morning …”, SPB’s “aaiyaayO…” is delectable (that man can sing it a thousand different ways, each equally captivating). Even if the song is a mix of naughty and mischief, Jaishankar’s charming clown act takes the sting out of the lyrics. BTW, the start of this song has a faint resemblance to another rollicking number “Poonthamalliyile, oru Ponnu Pinnaale…” from the inimitable Manorama and SPB jodi.
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cl
August 31, 2015
Karpagam was released in 1963 (directed by KSG) and the Telugu version in 1965 (directed by Adurthi Subba Rao). K.V. Mahadevan is the MD.
No, not the above song.
Athai madai methaiyadi – Atha odi puvvuvale methanamma
Mannavane azhalama – Endulakee kanneeru
aayiram iravulgal – enno raatrulu
are the only situation-equivalent songs.
Of these, I could find only the first song on youtube. Did a quick slide through the full-movie video too… the other two songs have been edited out and there’s no situation-equivalent song that you’ve asked… no audio either.
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Raja
August 31, 2015
kay kay, agree with most points.. but we cannot tag kamal with others… especially rajini who did amitabh remakes n was sidekick to him in most hindi films… kamal got more solo success.. he had critical and commercial success in most multiple languages.. in 70s even before getting that critical and commerical success in tamil.. he got it in malayalam in lead roles which lead to tamil lead roles n rest is history.. he also had superhit in kannada with balu mahendra or mahendran which was also critically accalimed.. in 80s he moved to hindi and telugu and got successfull.. but towards end of 80s and 90s he did exclusively tamil.. towards the end he had one straight superhit hindi film chachi 420 after dubbed superhit hindustani.. i remember reading anil kapoor in a newspaper article with kamal poster behind him thaanking kamal for all his dubbed superhits of kamal before shankar nayak time n said he is happy kamal is back in hindi… things were all set for commerically… i believe he shud have not done hey ram or abhay at that juncture of his career.. if he had done something more commrical n less controversial, he wud have played his cards right in hindi… regardless vishwaroop backed by controversy actually did well in hindi belt.. guess that’s how the pendulum swings.
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Raja
August 31, 2015
MGR, Rajini, Ajith knew pulse of Tamil audience and tapped into it. They didn’t just try to follow their own style. They definitely worked hard to get tamil audience into their stride. Earlier films of rajini, his tamil was mocked but with practice, he exaggerated n made it his own style.. Ajith early films were also mocked ‘athu’ ‘aaii’ kind of effeminate dialogue delivery, but he later changed his voice modulated to suit mass films.. MGR had series of failures n was character artist in earlier career, lets not forget.. MGR had more of ceylon accent not mallu..
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Sifting
September 1, 2015
@newbie – Agree with your comments on Sivaji. But Savitri, sigh! What an exquisite performance. An eternal favourite of mine, deserves to be widely known and enjoyed than it is really. Was thinking of doing it, but somehow let myself forget 🙂 Glad you posted this video.
Banumathi – She is peerless, unique in all manners inimitable.
@ThouShaltNot – I get your admiration of Sivaji’s acting; like him in a few movies, but really? That dialogue? Why is that it a women’s so called western attire is always made to be disparaged? And the cabaret dancer? Either be tamed or be damned! On a side note the lyrics are lol 🙂 🙂
@BR – Sivaji is a delight in that oh, little flower song. Such a delight; the blog and the comments.
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ThouShaltNot
September 2, 2015
@Sifting: If you felt that the overall content of the clip was an unedifying spectacle (a la K R Vijaya), I’m not going to argue about that. But, I think, you may have simply missed the context and the point of my comment. The context was “Earliest English dialogues by heroes in Tamil movies”, and my point, within that context, was Sivaji’s “perfect portrayal” of pooh poohing something. Whether the something deserved to be pooh poohed is besides the point I was trying to make (hard to quibble with what you raise, but don’t want to get mired in the moralizing, different discussion). So, to your “Really?”, if it is about the specific dialogue, “Nah, not really”, but if it is about the related acting,”Yeah, Really! 🙂
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newbie
September 13, 2015
@Rahini – “Which is the earliest instance in Tamil Cinema in which a hero breaks into fluent English to make his presence felt?”
Think this post is probably long dead but I came across a relevant scene in the movie ‘Bhairavi’ in TV a couple of days ago and thought of sharing it here for anyone still vaguely interested. Bhairavi is Rajini’s first tamil movie in which plays the hero – and the probably the only one in which he is mortal and human enough to not be able to save his sister, have his leg amputated, go to jail, escape from it, kill the villain and then go back to jail. Anyway, Malayalam actor Sudheer plays the second hero part and he gets a scene where he flexes his English language skills nicely to prove his gentlemanliness to the patronising sounding villain Srikanth who has mistaken him for an uneducated farmer.
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Drunken Monkey
September 17, 2015
Great read. Both the post and the comments.. sivaji and the beautiful music around that time.
Sabash meena has these brilliant chitiram pesudhadi & kaana inbam..
Sivaji is such a delight to watch in Chitiram.. He wears tht happy, in-love smile and u feel happy for him. The slight shrug of the shoulders as he goes ‘..mohana punnagai minnudhadi..’ 🙂 Love all the way..
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